A Good Samaritan who found a couple living in the hollow pillars of a bridge along the Los Angeles River discovered another group of unhoused Angelenos attempting to live inside tunnels next to an elementary school in East Los Angeles.
Los Angeles resident Juan Naula runs Clean LA With Me, a nonprofit that aims to fight the city’s waste crisis and “restore dignity to our local neighborhoods.”
Naula often scours rough, industrial corners of East Los Angeles — the types of places most people move past, not toward.
Juan Naula, who runs a non-profit to pick up trash across the city, found the couple living in heartbreaking conditions. Mekahlo Medina reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m.
During his ongoing mission to clean local streets, Naula told NBCLA he has encountered thousands of unhoused people trying to survive in horrific conditions, including the people living in the pillars, and people living in sewers and drainage pipes.
About six months ago, Naula said he also found people living inside pedestrian tunnels near Soto Elementary.
When he visited the tunnels again last week, Naula said he found the area filled with trash and at least one person living inside the tunnels. That person refused help from Naula.
“I see people in both sides of this tunnel,” Naula explained. “This is how they are going in — they cut this one, and they go in there. It’s sad.”
According to the City of Los Angeles, about 200 pedestrian tunnels like the one near Soto Elementary were built in the 1920s and 1930s, primarily to serve as a safe passage for school children under dangerous, busy streets.
Although the tunnel near the school has long been fenced off, it has been broken into and people continue to live inside.
East Los Angeles resident Esmeralda Camacho lives near Soto Elementary and the 101 Freeway. She’s often worried about safety in the area and plans to move out of the neighborhood.
“I kind of think its unsafe because when you come at night in this area, you never know what they could do to you,” Camacho told NBCLA.
NBCLA reached out to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) about the Soto tunnel and the people living in the bridge pillars.
In an email response, LAHSA said it’s still gathering more information about the locations serving as makeshift dwellings for unhoused Angelenos.
On Monday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ office told NBCLA the living situation for the couple in the bridge pillars is “unacceptable and tragic,” and the mayor’s office is “evaluating this site to determine the appropriate next steps.”
Bass’ office said Tuesday it is working with the district’s city councilor to also address the tunnel encampment near Soto Elementary.
Earlier this week, Bass’ office told NBCLA that because of the mayor’s leadership and efforts to curb homelessness, “street homeless is down nearly 18 percent after years of growth.”
But Camacho said she doesn’t see the change in her neighborhood.
“I don’t see no difference, still,” she told NBCLA.
According to LAHSA, roughly 40% of unhoused people placed into housing through the City of LA’s’ $300 million “Inside Safe” program have ended up back on the streets.
Bass said her office wants to decrease that number and reinforce the parts of their program that works.
In the meantime, Naula said he’ll continue his efforts to clean up LA and help whoever he can help, one street at a time.
“These are humans; they are human beings,” Naula added. “They should get help.”
He’s working with other nonprofit organizations to round up resources and assistance for Angelenos living in these conditions.
But he needs more help.
Naula hopes more people will find him on social media and be part of his ongoing Clean LA movement.
People can help in several ways, including volunteering for one of his many cleanup events, donating funds to buy supplies for the cleanup events, or donating essential items for unhoused neighbors like food, water, clothes, and hygiene kits.
For more ways to get involved, visit Clean LA With Me’s website.